suede heel protectors?

do you tape around the heel, over the parts of the cross that stick out, then?

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Yes.

if so, doesn't the suede & the tape appear unsightly on the heel?

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Personally I don't think it's as unsightly as a big plastic heel protector...I often dye the suede to match my shoes, and the cellophane tape is shiny so the heel ends up having a satiny finish. Also, once I've wrapped the tape around the heel etc, I then use thin nail scissors to trim off any parts of the cross that still stick up above the tape.

This is what I do:
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this shape allows you to wrap over the heel tip in the area where it tends to scrape along the floor, so it won't peel up and create the dreaded "shoe lips". I glue it to the bottom first, and then wrap it around the sides and glue it (hold together w/tape or elastic til it dries). I use Gem-tac and it holds just fine. You can paint them the same color as your shoe so they're less noticeable if you wish.

Compare that with friend of mine that dances about the same amount, uses plastic ones, and seems to change them every other week.

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Yeah, my plastic latin heel protectors I got thru pretty quickly. But its not just because of the dancing...I wear out my regular shoes the same way. I think that I walk more on one side of my foot than the other and it causes my heel to wear unevenly, thus me having to change my heel protectors out a little sooner than most(in my latin shoes, with the flared heel, I can see some wear on one side after dancing through a one hour lesson!). Interestingly enough, though, it takes me a little longer to go thru my plastic heel protectors that have a bit of suede on the bottom. Not sure if its the suede or the shape of the heel(straight, while my latin shoes have a flared heel), but they seem to last much longer than my other ones. Either way, I'm just lazy enough to justify spending a little more on the plastic ones because I can just pop the heel protectors off and on without having to deal with taping or anything like that. Me and tape (and glue for that matter) dont get along! Or maybe we get along too well, since they end up all over me! lol!

It's the suede. Suede reduces friction on the floor, and the friction is what rubs off the plastic. Like an eraser, for instance.

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Ah, that makes sense. Is less friction more useful in say, smooth or standard vs. latin or rhythm? Just wondering why its easy to find suede tipped heel protectors for a straight heel but not for a flared one.

Personally I don't think it's as unsightly as a big plastic heel protector...I often dye the suede to match my shoes, and the cellophane tape is shiny so the heel ends up having a satiny finish. Also, once I've wrapped the tape around the heel etc, I then use thin nail scissors to trim off any parts of the cross that still stick up above the tape.

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when you dye the suede, do you buy white/bleached suede & then dye it?
what do you use to dye it... type & color?

i really want to go this route, as was totally shocked that one day of comp dancing and my brand new suede-heeled plastic heel protectors were totally used up.

Just wondering why its easy to find suede tipped heel protectors for a straight heel but not for a flared one.

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Manufacturing issues? Like, maybe all the places that make the heel protectors haven't retooled for the numerous different kinds of flared heels. It seems that every manufacturer has its own shape and thickness. A lot of the slim heeled shoes seem to be interchangable when it comes to heel protectors.

Also, in addition to some things that have already been mentioned..... when you start to wear through the plastic caps a bit, the surface of the cap becomes very uneven until you finally change it. I find that the uneven surface really affects my balance. Where the suede ones don't wear out like that and so always seem to give a much better feel of stability.

Thanks everybody. So the past weekend I bought suede from Michael's. I used transparent Duct tape for one pair and black electrical tape for another. Seems electrical tape binds better. Both tapes looked quite apparent, though. I guess I need more practice how to tape them.